Dioxin Inputs from Contaminated

Dioxin Inputs from Contaminated Land Sites along the Passaic River

Gabriela R. Muñoz(1), Marta A. Panero(2), and Sandra Valle (3)

Harbor Project, New York Academy of Sciences, 2 East 63rd Street, http://www.nyas.org/programs/harbor.asp.

Numerous contaminated sites lie along the coasts of the Passaic River, including several containing dioxins and dioxin-like compounds. The Harbor Project of the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS) has applied an industrial ecology approach to identify ongoing and historical sources of dioxin contamination affecting the New York/New Jersey Harbor. As part of this effort, the NYAS Harbor Project has gathered information on dioxin contaminated sites in order to estimate their impact on the Harbor. Because dioxins tend to stick to soil particles, remobilization occurs by soil transport, especially by water erosion (runoff), which can carry the contaminated particles to an adjacent body of water. Dioxin remobilization in soil runoff was estimated for the Bayonne Barrel and Drum site in Newark, NJ, located close to the Passaic River. The calculation was made by applying the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation, following a similar approach to that utilized by the Delaware River Basin Commission. Soil runoff from this site is estimated to carry ~1 to 9 g TEQ of dioxins per year. Possible measures to curb remobilization of contaminated soil from this and other sites will be suggested.